Tha Phae Gate

The square

Thousands of lanterns are released into the sky at the gate during Yi Peng

Tha Phae Gate is widely regarded as the heart of Chiang Mai. It often serves as the venue for major cultural and religious festivals, and Yi Peng is one of them, when thousands of lanterns are released into the sky. The open square around it has become a popular spot for public activities and photography.

Sky and water

Two festivals share the full moon, one aimed at the sky and one at the water

Yi Peng is a Lanna festival of sky lanterns, with its offerings of light directed upward. Loy Krathong floats small decorated rafts on rivers, to pay respect to the water goddess Phra Mae Khongkha. In Chiang Mai the two have merged into a single celebration, with lanterns released and krathong floated on the Ping River.

1296

King Mangrai's city had its eastern gate here from 1296

The gate was first built during the reign of King Mangrai, the founder of Chiang Mai, in 1296. It was known as Chiang Rueak Gate, after the nearby village of Chiang Rueak. The area outside was once a major commercial zone linked to trade routes and river transport along the Ping River.

1296the year the gate was first built

Red brick

Tha Phae is the one gate of the old inner wall that kept its wooden doors

The gate is built mostly of red brick in the Lanna style, with a central wooden door flanked by fortified walls. Tha Phae is the only gate of the old inner wall that still keeps its complete wooden doors. The structure you see is a reconstruction made between 1985 and 1987, based on historical records, archaeological evidence and an old photograph.

2023

In 2023 an old inscription was found hidden inside the gate

On 2 November 2023 the Fine Arts Department announced the discovery of the Tha Phae Gate Inscription, hidden within the structure of the gate. It had been missing or unobserved for nearly four decades after being removed during renovations. It is written in Lanna script.